S a, T. X. of the stony $feayt,a,dNeat .ef ffe/3i. 323 and increafeof godlinefs; butwhere it meeteth with a tender heart.Lydia's heart isPaid tobeopened to attend to the wordsof Paul,ARs, 16.14. Thus naturally wens fpirits are bolted; theword finds a gate of brats upon it, till it be made tender, and after that its careful to lofe nothing : Oh then that we could fag ofour hearers, what Paul of the Corinthians, The Word ù written in their flek tablesof the heart, a Cor.a. Now forthe bitter cleating of there things, it may be demanded : whether alltenderness andfoftnefs of heart, be Chi' workof grace here promiled f ,QIarell. may not thefoul be deceived about tenderetefi.of heart ? Whaler ali Yes, very easily ; forthere is a twofold loft heart of licit), whichyet is not ten 9ernefs be the heart in theTeat this work of There is a natural foftnefs or a tnefs to relent, and. to be, pitifully affected ; Grace here P t romiCed: fuch as AHflin fpeaks of in himfelf, when he read the Y.ftory of Dido, Lord (kith he) Icould not but weep when I read that, and yet at the fame time I nia i 'could not weep for my fins. That tender heart of eoffph, wherebyhe diffolved Fos there is e into tears concerninghis brethren, was not fo much an ac; of grace, as of na- nttursi etudes tural tendernefs : And it fhould feem he was a tender father to all Egypt, as oafs, fome expound that name they gave Jofeph, when they bleffed him, and cal- led him Abrech, render Father. Again, There is another tenderness orfoftnefs, Whereby men arefo melted under And a Leáai, theconftderation offin, as they refufe, like Rachel, to be comforted: It feeméth riihe are this Mary Magdalene was too tender, by that remedy our Saviour applyed, when heart herepro- be bidher Weof gaolcomfort, herfins Wereforgiven, Luke 7.48. To be Pure the mired. Inceftuous person was too foft thisway, infomucii that hewaseven fwallowed up with forrow, z Cor.2.7. Foras the firingofthe inftrument, ifit be too war, canmake nomelodiousfound fo neithercan an heart overwhelmed with for- row, fet forth the praife of God with faith and rhankfu!nefs: It willbe therefore worth the while, to difcover this Counterfeit heart of The Counter- f efb, from a gracious one: And let us examine the ftrlt, which if put to thg Htoae okbr ,. Touch-Rune, will be thus discovered : viz. Firdt, Natural tenderness arìfeth from the bodily conflitution, or natural tempera- y- mentofa span; whereas this graciousfofnefs is theworkof God in a fuperna- Nataral'su- tural way : Than in the Text, I Will give the heart offle/lr: God as the Author deracfi dii- of gracemakes this ;. fo Sach.o z. fwill pour upon them the spirit ef prayer, and Co esr eiit d. they (ball mourn for their fin, Rom.8. Thofe groans unutterable, which came ':ow differs froman heart of flesh, are wholly attributed to the(irirof God ; fo that the f ocfs. y P tctidZúterS. tender heartof the one, is like Egypt, that is not made fruitful by rain from heaven ; whereas the other comes onely from above: If then you go to the fountainsfrom whence their fbeams flow, they are asfar diltant as heaven and earth ; andif ye fee them both melting and diffolving into tears , under the chaftifements and judgements of Godupon them ; theone bath a fpring from under the earth, the other fromheaven above : Donot therefore prefentlycon- cludegrace is there, when you fee a tender, foft,óielding difpofition, for this may comefrom nature, as well as grace; it may be a natural complexion,not a principle of San&iication.within. Secondly, Theinffrument by which thisfoftnefd and tenderness of heart is pro- duced, isfardifferentfrom theother : For thenatural bolt nefsis wrought, by tie- ing the objefts of pity and compafiion; but this gracious fofthefs is by hear- ing, and by the wordpreached : So that the infirurnentby which a man comes tobe thus changed from his obltinacy, is wholly by the wordof God; that received by faith, bath been the furnace or coals of fire to the iron, thatdoth make itflexible for every shape; whereas the former is onely by a natural fym- pathy between the eye and the heart: Theeye affeéts the heart, Lam.;.sr. and hereupontende:nelsis wrought; its not a work of faith, which as itpurifieth the heart, fit it makes the heart tender. By faith Noah Was moved Withfear, X x x 2 Bel).
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